Review and Competition – Red Ted Art: The Book

12/04/2013

I know I'm not the only person who let out a small squeal of delight when I heard that there was going to be a book version of Red Ted Art. Maggy Woodley's popular children's craft blog, Red Ted Art, has won awards and for many parents it is the first place they go when they are looking for craft projects to do with their children. Maggy's projects have also appeared elsewhere, both online and in print, and for her readers it seemed natural that the next step would be a book and finally the waiting is over.

The subtitle of Red Ted Art the book is Cute and Easy Crafts for Kidsand this really does sum up the book perfectly. Not only are all the projects easy to do with your children – thanks to the clear concise instructions – but when you look through the book the photography is so stunning and the end results so adorable that you'll struggle to decide what to make first.

In Maggy's true style she tries to use as many recycled and natural materials as possible in her projects. There's a whole section of projects using toilet roll tubes and another on stones. If I had to find one "complaint" it would be that we can't do all the nut projects, in particular the peanut finger puppets, due to a peanut allergy in the family. A big shame as they're super cute, but I can't exactly blame Maggy for that one!

We decided to start Little Miss C off with one of the simpler projects in the book – apple and potato prints. I'm quite ashamed to say that we've not done printing like this before. I've no idea why not as it's incredibly simple and she really enjoyed doing it, but then sometime you just need someone to suggest something obvious and simple for you to actually do it.

We started off just making patterns with half an apple and some paint and LMC thought that it was great fun to use an apple like this. She's not a huge fruit and veg fan at all when it comes to eating them, so I'm particulary keen to make sure that she doesn't shun all fruit all the time.

After printing with the apple we moved on to the potato and this is where one of Maggy's genius ideas comes into play. A quick bit of work with a kitchen knife (not something LMC's read for yet) and rather than the usual square or star we had what LMC described as a "potato waffle" shape. The versatility of this shape is that you can use it either horizontally to make a red London bus, or vertically to make a city skyline. Combine the two and you can make a lovely London picture.

My art work is no where near the quility of Maggy's but you can see how easy it is to do.

I am just completely in love with this book and have already been recommending it to so many people. I've heard of one other mum who has bought a copy for her children's school and I'm actually considering doing the same for Little Miss C's nursery. It would also make a lovely present for a child, or their parents.

Win a copy of Red Ted Art: Cute and Easy Crafts for Kids

If you want to get your hands on a copy of the book then look no further. I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader. All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favourite recycled craft material is. Fill in the Rafflecopter widget below and cross your fingers. Extra entries are available if you follow BeingMrsC on twitter, or like my Facebook page. Full T&Cs are linked below.

Comments

Jam jars! I love them and collect them! I decorate them and fill them with home made jams, sweets, pretty buttons, ribbons etc and either display/use them for storing my craft bits and pieces or give them as gifts with lovely fillings!

I’m rubbish at crafts which is why I need that book! However I think our favourite recycled stuff to use is cardboard of any type – big boxes, cereal boxes, old cards, egg boxes – you can make all sorts with a bit of card!

SMA milk tins, i have them all over my house. The kids decorated them for all their craft stuff (glitter tin has lots of glitter on it etc). They have other ones for their little toys that never have anywhre to go. I’ve also used them for all my sewing and baking things, looks so much nicer than bags and funny shaped tubs everywhere.
The kids also decorate them for gifts and fill them with homemade cookies etc